When Mack decides to start the interview process, his first phone call should be to Jerry Gray, a former All-American safety at Texas. Gray is currently the secondary/cornerbacks coach for the Washington Redskins. He told the Chronicle on Nov. 30 that he would definitely be interested in the job to replace Gene Chizik, who left last month to become the head coach at Iowa State.

What does this all mean for co-defensive coordinator Duane Akina?

Akina will handle the play-calling in the Alamo Bowl against Iowa in what might be an audition for the job. A person close to the UT program tells us the Longhorns plan to make Gray their No. 1 target.

Oops, I forgot. The Longhorns aren’t talking about the vacancy until after Dec. 30.

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I spent Saturday afternoon watching Blinn College win the National Junior College Athletic Association championship. The Buccaneers are coached by Brad Franchione, the son of Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione. Franchione has done a great job on the junior-college level the past two seasons and should be a strong candidate to start moving up the college coaching ladder.